Propellent powder



i Patented .luly 19 25.

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Io Drawing. Application med October 9 (alumna ,mmm AM. or

To all'wk'o nit may coaoerai i I Be it'kn'own'that I, CHARLES R. FRANK-"LIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Dover, county ofMorris, and

' Stat'e'of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement. Propellent:Powders, of which the following is a specification. I

' The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or anyof its 10 oflicers or employees in rosecution of work for theGovernment, or by any other person I in the ni-ted States, withoutpayment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act ofMarch 3, 1883., I I I e subject of the present invention is a propellentpowder. I

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a propellent'powder which, will s besmokeless and flashless, non-hygroscopic andwhich will meet all ballistic require ments.

A further object is the establishment of a method whereby a propellentpowder hav- 1 ing the u'alities recited above may be manufactured 'insuch way that it may be used immediately u on the completion of its.

manufacture without the necessity of ving the completed article. Withthe foregoing and other objects in view, my'invention resides in thenovel arrangement and combination of parts and in 1 4 the details ofconstruction hereinafter de-- scribed and claimed, it being understoodthat changes in the recise embodiment of the invention herein isclosedmay be made 'within the scope of what is claimed without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. I Apowder such as forms 'thesubject of myinvention is preferably composed of 40 nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, anon-hygrofscopic and deterrent material such as tri- 'nitrotoluol, aflash reducing agent such as h drocellulose and a stabilizer such asdiphenylamin'e. f. Such a powder may be made according to the, processdescribed herein. Nitrocellulose of suitable solubility and havingapproximately 12.60% nitrogen content is first mixed with a large amountof water, approximately 6 to 10 times the weight of the nitrocotton.Th'e'mixture of the nitrocellulose and water has an appearance notunlike I that of a flour batter, To this mixture is .added-the requiredamout of nitroglycerin 56 with violent agitatiom: the more violentthe'1923. semi a... 007,555. mean-3,18 3; 22 sur, 1.. 62s.

agitation, the more uniformly will the nit ro-f glycerine bedistributed. The agitation is continued for a suitable eriod; whichinpractice has been found to e approximately 30 minutes after the ,lastortion of- 'the nitroglycerine. has been 'ad ed. This'portion of theprocess is designated in the r,

manufacture as wet mixing.

' The mixture is then transferred tof a ,icentrlfuge or other machinehaving a 'similarffifi function, and the excess water separated J' ifrom the other ingredients by II The molsture content of the solid thustreated will range from 20% 20% to 25% beingpreferable:

The material isthen transferredto a materialhj to 45%, 4 .70

dough mixing machine similar to that used for manufaeture of IL S.Ariny' Service powder. This machine is placed in operation and asuitable amount of. trimtr0- teluol orother organic body haying'similarqualities is added. After a proper interval,

which in practice has been found to be approximately 5 minutes, "thenecessary amount of hydrocellulose 'or ,other flame reducing ingredientis added. This last named material maybe added when in the wet or driedstate. With the hydrocellulose or other flame reducing ingredient isalso added a proper amount ofa stabilizer such as diphenylamine.

The last named is then mixed for 30 min-I utes after the addition of thelast component. This process inthe manufacture is termed the first dryThe, material is then passe through pres sure rollers heated to atemperature-of preferably C. to 100 C. This step in the manufacture isknown as the first preliminary rolling and represents a most im portantstep in the process. During this rolling the water content of the massis re-' .duced, the colloiding action of the nitroglycerine. is promoted'and. the ingredients having a lowmelting point are brought into as Imoreintimate contact with the other com-- ponents.

The material as removed from the rollers at the end ofthis liteliminaryrollirig is seasoned for a suitab e period, genera y 24; to 48 hours atatemperature of. 50 C. to 60 0. During :this step in the manufacture thewater content is reduced to a negligible quantity and the material takeson a more or'less appearance.

no I

is then cut or stamped in the shape.desired proportions. provensuccessful in practlce 1s as follows:

and is ready for use.

The various ingredients which compose my powder may be mixed in widelyvaried A composition which has I nitrocellulose, 49.5%; nitroglycerine,

trinitrotoluol, 20%; hydrocellulose, 10%;.

diphenylamine, .5%. The composition and proportions cited herein aremerely intended as an example of a powder which may be made by myprocess and which will have thedesired ballistic qualities. It is by nomeans intended to limit my invention to a formula such as given above.Variations of this formula within the'scope of my invention will readilyoccur to those skilled in art.

For the trinitrotoluol any organic compound such as dinitrotoluol,trinitrobenz'ene,

etc., having similar qualities may be substituted; starch or any otherflame reducing agent may be substituted for the hydrocellulose while forthe diphenylamine any amino compound, such as urea or aniline,

or any compound having similar properties may be substituted.

This powder has been found especially useful in a 75 m/m. gun and othercannons,

. but it is by ,no means limited to such use.

.ately after manufacture.

A powder manufactured by the process that have described and composed ofinedients such asdescribed requires no drymg and istherefore ready. foruse immedi- This quality is largel due to 'the fact that the powder ismanu actured without the use of a volatile this for the reason that thesolvent agent as ether-alcohol mixture, acetone, amylacetate, etc.Powder made with such solvents require a period of timeoften as great as35 a-ysto remove the volatile colloiding agent.

Furthermore, a powder made according to the process described and withconstituents such as set forth is non-hygroscopic,

whereas, the present U. powder is not. The owder then made according tomy invention may be acked in ordinary packing cases, whereas, 1: eservice ammunition requires special air-ti ht cases;

regular U. S. Service powder has some of the volatile solvent, used inits manufacture, remaining in the powder, the amount depending upon S.Army Serv1ce the caliber of the gun withwhich the powder is intended tobe usedr A powder manufactured by the method described and havingconstituents as set forth will be sniokeless, flashless,non-hygroscopic, and, in ractice, has been found to meet all ba isticrequirements. v r

I claim:

1. A propellent powder containing approximately 4-9.5% nitrocellulose,20% nitro-'- glycerine, 20%' trinitrotoluol, 10% hydrocellulose and .5%diphenylamine.

2. A propellent powder consisting of a stabilized mixture, ofnitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, trinitrotoluol, and hydrocellulose.

3. A propellent powder containing nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine,trinitrotoluol, and hydrocellulose. 1 p

4. A propellent powder containing nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, anon-hygroscopic agent and hydrocellulose.

.5. A propellent powder containing nitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, anitrohydrocarbon, and hydrocellulose.

6. A propellent powder containing nitro cellulose, nitro'glycerine, anon-hygroscopic deterrent material and a flame reducing compound.-'

7. A propellent powder containing nitrocellulose, n1troglycerine,-anitrohydrocarbon and a flame reducing compound. Y

8. A propellent powder consisting of a stabilized mixture ofnitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, trinitrotoluol, and a flame reducingcompound. f

9. A propellent powder consisting of a stabilized mixture ofnitrocellulose, nitroglycerine, a deterrent material and hydrocellulose.

10. A propellent powder consisting of sta.

bilized mixture of nitrocellulose, nitro lycerine, a non-hygroscopicagent, and ydrocellulose.

i 11. A process of preparing a. propellent owder consisting in firstmixin nitrocellu-' ose of approximately 12.60% mtrogen content with alarge excess of water untillt has an appearance like that of a flourbatter,-

lose of suitable nitrogen content with a large excess of water, thenadding nitroglycerine with rapid agitation, then wringing out the excessof water, then adding a non-hydroscopic agent and a flash reducingcompound and a stabilizer and mixing the whole tog'ether, then,subjecting the material thus formed to pressure and heat, then seasoningthe whole, then again subjecting the ma- I ter al to pressure and'heatuntil. the mass "becomes a translucent, cohering, colloided I with rapidagitation, then" wringing out the excess of water, -then'. 'adding anonhygroscopic'agent, aflash redii'cingcompound and astabilizer, thenmixing the whole, thensubjecting the whole to pressure, thenseasoning-then againsubjectmg the whole to-pres-' sure until thematerial becomes a translucent, cohering, colloided solid and thencutting into the proper, shapes and sizes.

' 14. The process of preparing a propellent powder consisting in firstmixing nitrocellulose of suitable nitrogen content with a large excessof water, then adding nitrogen with rapid agitation,;;thenwringing outthe excess of water,";then".adcling a deterrentmaterial, a flashreducing compound and a stabilizer and mixing the whole together, thensubjecting themass thus formed to pressure, then seasoning then againsubjecting the niaterial to pressure until the material-becomes atranslucengicohering, colloided solid, and then cutting to the propershapes and sizes.

CHARLES RIFRANKLIN.

